MLB Free Agents Primed for Career Revival With New Teams in 2024

In every single Major League Baseball season, guys who you thought were washed up all of a sudden find new life in a new home.

No, they aren't all as drastic as Cody Bellinger rediscovering his MVP potential after going from the Dodgers to the Cubs. But players get revitalized after changing teams all the time.

Of course, actually pinpointing the players who will pull it off is the darn near impossible part.

I certainly didn't see Jason Heyward hitting 15 home runs this season. Neither did you. And Zach Eflin going from a No. 4/5 starter in Philadelphia to a pretty solid ace in Tampa Bay? Who would've thunk it?

We can identify some candidates primed for a renaissance, though.

Every player on this list is a free agent who struggled this past season but was relatively valuable at some point in the past five years. Ideally, they were solid in both 2021 and 2022 and just need to recover from a down year in 2023, but we're happy to include several pitchers hoping to rekindle Cy Young consideration from shortly before the pandemic.

For most of the candidates, we'll offer up what appears to be a good landing spot for their career revival, but our goal isn't necessarily to predict where they will sign.

Players are presented in alphabetical order by last name.

There's a fine line between hitting free agency after struggling for most/all of a season and hitting free agency after missing most/all of a season because of injury. They can both be viewed as buy-low candidates, but the players we're more focused on are the ones looking to bounce back from a disappointing run as opposed to a lengthy stint on the shelf.

Still, these injured guys merit a mention here, because they are looking to resuscitate their careers.

Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies

Hoskins hit 30 home runs in 2022, followed by six more during Philadelphia's run to the World Series. But a torn ACL suffered days before the start of the season knocked him out of commission for all of 2023. The good news is the recovery timeline for an ACL is shorter than for a Tommy John, and he should be a full participant by spring training 2024. Still, he's a classic candidate for a "one year plus a player option" contract as he tries to show he's back. (It's a little surprising the Phillies didn't extend him the $20.325 million qualifying offer.)

Tyler Mahle, RHP, Minnesota Twins

Leading up to the 2022 trade deadline, Mahle was basically neck-and-neck with his former teammate Luis Castillo in the various rankings of the best players on the trade block. But he made just four starts after the trade deadline and only five more this season before an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery. We'll likely need to wait until after the All-Star break to see if he can begin to revive his pitching career.

Frankie Montas, RHP, New York Yankees

Montas made one, 1.1-inning, "don't forget about me" appearance on Sept. 30 after spending the entire season on the IL with a shoulder injury. But considering how poorly he pitched with the Yankees after the 2022 trade deadline (6.35 ERA in eight starts), Montas does somewhat need to reprove that he's still good in addition to proving that he's healthy. The Yankees are reportedly considering bringing him back in 2024, which makes sense. Aside from Gerrit Cole, that rotation needs all the help it can get.

2023 Stats: .245/.286/.296, 1 HR, 13 SB, -2.0 bWAR

2021-22 Stats: .306/.338/.440, 23 HR, 86 RBI, 31 SB, 6.0 bWAR

It's not unusual for a middle infielder to start to decline in his age-30 season.

But Tim Anderson's overnight transformation from back-to-back All-Star to "why are they even still letting him play at this point" was extremely atypical.

Anderson lasted just 11 games before his annual trip to the IL, and he was just never the same after returning from that knee injury.

Then you had the White Sox's whole "no rules" culture stuff that came out after the trade deadline, followed by Anderson getting knocked out by José Ramírez in that brawl.

Save for a brief stretch after the All-Star break where it looked like he was finally figuring things out, it just was not a good year for Anderson, to put it lightly.

After the White Sox declined his club option for 2024, though, a fresh start could be exactly what the doctor ordered for the former batting champ.

Miami could be a great fit for Anderson after the seasonlong struggles they had at shortstop. (Maybe Luis Arraez could remind Anderson how to hit.) San Francisco wouldn't be a bad landing spot, either, as the Giants look to bridge the gap from Brandon Crawford to Marco Luciano.

2023 Stats: .248/.295/.434, 12 HR, 37 RBI, -0.5 bWAR

2021-22 Stats: .268/.343/.496, 57 HR, 194 RBI, 5.4 bWAR

Not gonna lie, it had completely slipped my mind that C.J. Cron got traded from the Rockies to the Angels. Granted, he did get hurt (again) and only appeared in 15 games for the Halos while they relentlessly crashed and burned, but that's just how disappointing and forgettable Cron's season was.

Unfortunately, such is life with nagging back injuries.

Cron mashed a pair of home runs on opening day and six by the end of April. At that point, he was roughly on pace for a 40/100 campaign. But back spasms sent him to the IL in mid-May, and the back pain flared up again in each of July, August and September.

With the right chiropractor and stretching/strengthening exercises, though, maybe the soon-to-be 34-year-old slugger still has a couple of productive years left in him.

And plenty of postseason hopefuls could use a 1B/DH.

The Padres got basically nothing out of either of those spots in their lineup in 2023. The Cubs have a gaping hole at first base. Seattle could be a good fit if they've lost faith in Ty France. If the Phillies want to put Bryce Harper back in right field and don't re-sign Rhys Hoskins, there's another.

2023 Stats: 144.1 IP, 4.99 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 9.2 K/9, 0.8 bWAR

2021-22 Stats: 114.1 IP, 3.54 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, 0.7 bWAR

With Jack Flaherty, the hope isn't that he bounces back to 2021-22 form, but rather that he can reharness what he was in 2018-19.

Back then, Flaherty was a phenom with a 3.01 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. He was a Rookie of the Year candidate in 2018 and received both Cy Young and MVP votes in 2019.

While he wasn't anywhere near that good this year, at least he was mostly healthy for the first time in a long time, pitching almost as many innings in 2023 as he did from 2020-22 combined.

One big thing working in Flaherty's favor is his age, as he just turned 28 in mid-October. That doesn't mean he's going to get a long-term deal this offseason, but it's definitely easier to convince yourself that a 28-year-old will figure things out again than it is to believe someone in their mid-30s is due for a renaissance type of year.

And at least he started getting his control under control. After averaging 5.5 BB/9 in 2022 and walking batters at a similar rate for the first 14 starts of 2023, he was way better in that department from June 15 onward, walking 23 batters over his final 70.2 IP (2.9 BB/9).

The next step in his revival is limiting hits, but at least minimizing free passes is a good first step.

2023 Stats: 184.1 IP, 4.88 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 1.6 bWAR

2021-22 Stats: 340.1 IP, 4.18 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 4.8 bWAR

Like Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito is a young former ace looking to revive a career that peaked around 2019.

Per FanGraphs, Giolito was the seventh-most valuable pitcher in the majors from 2019-21, getting AL Cy Young votes in all three seasons. Had he hit free agency two years ago, he would've been right up there with Robbie Ray and Kevin Gausman, who got five-year deals for $115 million and $110 million, respectively.

After consecutive disappointing seasons, though, Giolito is perhaps the biggest wild card in this free agency cycle, likely headed for a one-year deal (or a two-year deal in which the second season is some sort of option).

He still has above-average strikeout stuff, but his home run woes really came to a head in 2023 with 41 dingers allowed.

Got to think that will keep the Reds from trying to bring him to the launching pad known as Great American Ball Park. But Giolito could revive his career by signing with the Giants and getting to play home games in what has long been one of the least homer-friendly parks in the business. (Some lot of good Oracle Park did for Ross Stripling, though, allowing 12 home runs in 39.0 innings pitched at home this season.)

2023 Stats: .237/.289/.357, 11 HR, 61 RBI, -0.1 bWAR

2021-22 Stats: .238/.318/.403, 26 HR, 105 RBI, 5.9 bWAR

On the one hand, Kiké Hernández isn't getting any younger. He turned 32 in August, making him one of the older players primarily playing middle infield or center field.

On the other hand, he recently underwent double hernia surgery, which may have fixed what was causing him to struggle over the past two seasons.

And while 32 is older, it's not exactly old, even by MLB standards. Moreover, Hernández was considerably better after the trade deadline with the Dodgers (.262 AVG, .423 SLG) than he was before it with the Red Sox (.222 AVG, .320 SLG).

In his first season with the Dodgers (after starting in Houston), Hernández hit .307. After leaving L.A. to sign with Boston, he had the best season of his career. And after returning to the Dodgers this past July, his OPS shot up by 132 points.

We've already seen on several occasions what a change of scenery can do for him.

Now we wait to see if surgical intervention can make an even bigger difference in reviving the career of a utilityman who was worth 5.0 bWAR just two years ago.

2023 Stats: .242/.306/.340, 6 HR, 37 RBI, 14 SB, 0.1 bWAR

2021-22 Stats: .267/.313/.344, 12 HR, 101 RBI, 42 SB, 6.6 bWAR

With Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the draw was never his impact at the plate. This is his sixth season in the majors, and he has never had an OPS of .700, nor an OPS+ greater than 93 (which is still well below-average). But he did rack up 172 hits in 2021 and at least had an above-average batting average prior to 2023.

The real allure with IKF was his value added on defense, spending the vast majority of his first five seasons at shortstop or third base.

But with Anthony Volpe ready for the big leagues and the everyday job at shortstop, the Yankees kicked IKF all over the place this past season, primarily playing him in the outfield where he was nowhere near as impactful. They also reduced his playing time by about a third, making it even more difficult for him to contribute on offense because he never got into a rhythm.

He needs a new home with a team that values his Gold Glove-caliber defense at shortstop while accepting the fact that he's going to need to bat eighth or ninth in the order.

To that end, Seattle could be a great fit. J.P. Crawford won a Gold Glove in 2020, but he hasn't provided much value on defense over the past two years. Sliding him to second—where Seattle spent all last season looking for answers—and letting Kiner-Falefa play short could be a game-changer for IKF and the M's alike.

2023 Stats: .263/.305/.378, 6 HR, 58 RBI, 15 SB, 0.6 bWAR

2021-22 Stats: .282/.316/.406, 22 HR, 128 RBI, 31 SB, 6.2 bWAR

Amed Rosario was never going to fetch the type of paydays that Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson got last winter. However, after putting up solid marks in each of 2019, 2021 and 2022, the soon-to-be 28-year-old did enter 2023 as the clearly most coveted shortstop who would be available this winter.

With another strong season, he could have at least gotten something like a five-year, $50 million type of deal.

But he wasn't quite the same this year.

It wasn't a Tim Anderson-sized fall from grace. Rosario was only about one hit per week and one homer per month below his norms from the previous two years.

Between that and less impactful defense, though, it was enough for him to slip from borderline All-Star to borderline replacement level.

After trading for him, the Dodgers didn't even put Rosario on their NLDS roster.

But perhaps he can right the ship in 2024 and still get a nice contract next offseason.

As previously mentioned, Miami is pretty clearly in the market for a shortstop. Detroit could also make sense, though adding another light-hitting middle infielder might not do much of anything to help the Tigers.

2023 Stats: 89.1 IP, 6.65 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, -1.5 bWAR

2021-22 Stats: 108.0 IP, 3.00 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 1.9 bWAR

If Jack Flaherty and Lucas Giolito make the cut as pitchers a few years removed from Cy Young votes, might as well include Luis Severino, too, who was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball in 2017-18.

There are, of course, massive injury concerns here. Severino has pitched just 209.1 innings since the beginning of 2019—one more inning than Edwin Díaz, who A) missed the entire 2023 campaign and B) is a closer who has never pitched 75 innings in a season. Severino missed the first two months of this year with a lat injury and missed the final few weeks with a side injury.

And in between those injuries, he was both wildly inconsistent—went six scoreless innings three times; allowed at least seven earned runs four times—and nowhere near the strikeout artist that he was even one year ago.

Severino still has great velocity on his four-seamer, but the slider that was absolutely lethal in 2017-18 simply wasn't fooling anyone in 2023, which, in turn, made it easier to tee off on the heater.

Was it just a one-season blip or is this a Madison Bumgarner/Patrick Corbin situation in which a great pitcher loses his slider at 29/30 and just never recovers?

Some team is going to spend a decent chunk of money to find out. And if Severino's slider returns in 2024, the ROI (both for the team and for Severino in future negotiations) on a one-year, $12 million type of deal could be incredible.

2023 Stats: .199/.320/.247, 1 HR, 23 RBI, -0.7 bWAR

2021-22 Stats: .261/.367/.446, 38 HR, 124 RBI, 2.6 bWAR

Thus far in his career, changing scenery has been miserable for Jesse Winker.

He was an All-Star with Cincinnati in 2021, posting a .949 OPS that season. He got traded to Seattle the following March and fell apart to a .688 OPS. And after another trade to Milwaukee, he plummeted down to below the basement with a woeful .567 OPS.

But maybe the third move's the charm?

After all, he's only 30. And even after bad and worse seasons, Winker still has career marks of .369 OBP and .813 OPS. That's almost exactly what Paul Goldschmidt gave the Cardinals this season, so it'd be mighty clutch if he could get back to playing at that level in 2024.

A big part of that, though, is staying healthy, which has been a struggle throughout Winker's career.

In his All-Star year with the Reds, he only played in 110 games.

He missed 101 games this past season with the Brewers.

Even after all the struggles and injuries, though, Craig Counsell still believed in him. After not playing in an MLB game in more than two months, Winker not only made Milwaukee's postseason roster but was summoned as a pinch hitter in both of their games. Granted, he didn't get a hit in either AB, but maybe there's still something there.